1907 Kingston upon Hull West by-election

The 1907 Kingston upon Hull West by-election was a parliamentary by-election held in England for the House of Commons constituency of Kingston upon Hull West on 11 November 1907.

1907 Kingston upon Hull West by-election

← 1906 11 November 1907 Jan. 1910 →
 
Candidate Wilson Bartley Holmes
Party Liberal Conservative Labour
Popular vote 5,623 5,382 4,512
Percentage 36.2% 34.7% 29.1%

MP before election

Charles Wilson
Liberal

Subsequent MP

Guy Wilson
Liberal

The seat had been held for the Liberal Party by members of the Wilson family since its creation in 1885, and the by-election was won by the Liberal candidate Guy Greville Wilson, who was the brother of the outgoing Member of Parliament (MP).

Vacancy

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The seat had become vacant when the sitting MP Charles Wilson succeeded to his father's peerage as the 2nd Baron Nunburnholme. He had held the seat for less than two years, having been elected at the 1906 general election after the retirement from the Commons of his father Charles Henry Wilson, who had held the seat since 1885.[1]

Candidates

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Three candidates contested the seat.

The Liberal candidate Guy Greville Wilson DSO, was a former officer in the British Army, and a director of the family shipping company Thomas Wilson Sons & Co.

The Conservative Party candidate was Sir George Trout Bartley, a cockney[2] who had been the founder of the National Penny bank[2] and was MP for Islington North from 1885[3] until his defeat in 1906.[4]

The Labour Party nominated a candidate for the first time: James Holmes, who had been an unsuccessful candidate in Birmingham East at the 1906 general election.

Result

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1907 Kingston upon Hull West by-election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Guy Greville Wilson 5,623 36.2 −21.3
Conservative George Trout Bartley 5,382 34.7 −7.8
Labour James Holmes 4,512 29.1 New
Majority 241 1.5 −13.5
Turnout 15,517 75.4 +0.8
Liberal hold Swing -6.8

Aftermath

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Bartley did not stand for Parliament again. Wilson held the seat (with much increased majorities) until the constituency was abolished in 1918. He then rejected the coalition coupon which he had been given, and was heavily defeated at the 1918 general election.[6]

The Labour Party did not contest Kingston upon Hull West again in either of the 1910 elections. Holmes stood again only one more time, at the Crewe by-election in July 1912, but came a poor third.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)
  2. ^ a b London leaders : historic families, ancestral estates. London: Allan North. 1907. pp. 334–337.
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "I"
  4. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 24. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  5. ^ Craig, 1885-1918, page 130
  6. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 157. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  7. ^ Craig, 1885–1918, page 231

See also

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